Some handy tips for foreigners who want to study in Berlin

Seeing the world is easier and more common than ever. Most of our parents still worked, studied and lived in the same country but our generation spreads all over the world. Especially when you are a teenager and still studying it can be great to experience different cultures and live in a different country for one semester. But before you can study in a foreign country, you have to arrange a bunch of things. Therefore we gathered some handy tips for foreigners who want to study in Berlin:

Get to know the German scholing system

This might sound obvious, but there are more differences than you might expect. Personally I was born in the Netherlands and although these countries are neighbors, there are heaps of differences between the scholing systems. Therefore it makes sense when you take some time to investigate your new university and their rules. Some things we noticed already:

Different Semesters: The semesters in Germany start in a different month than some other countries. Take the wintersemester for example: In Germany they start in October although the students in the Netherlands have been in school for more than a month at that moment.

More freedom: Compared to many other countries, the German scholing system is very free. You can choose your own topics, classes and direction. So do not come to Berlin with no clue about what you want to learn.

Price-Differences: Till 2005 it often was free for foreigners to study in Berlin but these days are over. Nowadays prices differ per university and study. Therefore it is smart to invest some time in the costs of studying in Berlin.

Start searching for accommodation a.s.a.p.!

If there is one thing I learned in the last couple of years in Berlin, it is that finding accommodation is very difficult. Berlin has been really popular for many different people and finding an apartment takes a lot of time. Besides that the prices went up as well and you might be disappointed about what you can get for the amount of money you want to invest. There are special websites which can help you find a student-accomodation: One of them is called Uniplaces and they currently offer almost 400 different apartments. By the way: A shared student-accommodation is called WG (Wohngesellschaft) in German, so if you want to search for a shared place with other students, you can search for that keyword in Google.

Use the experience of others!

You are not alone! Ask for help of other students and people who already studied here. There are plenty of Facebook-groups like this one in Berlin. There are special parties for students who just came to Berlin and want to meet new people and there are many other blogs who write about this topic as well. And why not ask your family and friends, you never know if someone already had some experiences with studying abroad and these people can be trusted more than anyone else.

Hopefully these tips can help you a bit when you want to study in Berlin. If you still have doubts about which city you should take, just read a few of the other articles on this blog and I guess you will get excited. Enjoy!

My Name is Job and originally from the Netherlands. In 2012, a girl I met in Australia motivated me to move to Berlin. I love to share the best places, activities and events in Berlin with you on my blog.

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About the blogger

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”

John Lennon was right: Life doesn't always turn out the way you expected. My name is Job, born in Holland but living in Berlin since two years now. I enjoy this city every single day and want so share my passion on this travelblog...(read more)

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Make the most of your time in the beautiful capital of Germany with Berlin-Enjoy.com. On this travelblog you can find everything you need for a great trip to Berlin. From great restaurants to the awesome parties and from cool bars to touristic attractions.

Berlin is a city with countless possibilities. Every day and night you can explore new places and locations. The travel-blog Berlin-Enjoy will hopefully give you new impulses, nice suggestions and personal advice if you are visiting Berlin. We love the city Berlin and want to share our experiences with you. Berlin is simply one of the coolest cities in Europe with very reasonable prices, a splendid nightlife and a very interesting history.

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